Looking back at my first post, I can see my objectives were familiarization with the various parts of Web 2.0, and learning how to improve presentation of content on the various tools. I certainly feel more comfortable with the concepts of RSS, blogs and mashups, even if I don't feel I've mastered them. I know what they are, what they do, and where to learn more. I still feel I need to learn more about presentation of pages, so that future blogs and websites don't look outdated or "template-like." But that will come. I've learned a lot about RSS, and tried to navigate the post-Google-Reader transition. I still feel there's an enormous amount of skills to acquire, but now I have a better map of where they are and how to get there.
As for the Create-Communicate-Collaborate exercise itself, learning-by-doing has been fun, if sometimes interrupted in tutorials by constant new software downloads to organize. It's been nice getting comments from members of my group, but overall, I feel the comments have been just for commenting's sake. Talking with my group face-to-face was more helpful than the web 2.0 mediated formats. I understand, of course, that web 2.0 stuff is for when face-to-face is not an option.
For a final reflection, I also think its worth having a look at the idea of Web 2.0. Here is how the relative online usage of the phrase "Web 2.0" has changed over the last few years. The graph is from Google trends, and embedded using the HTML mode.
You can see that the term has been slowly declining in usage for some time. Web 2.0 was a hot thing back in 2007 and 2008, but now is less of a big deal, at least measured by how much it's talked about. I can't help thinking that's because Web 2.0 is the web now. There's no need for the distinction. Which means it's just as important for information managers to master as it ever was.
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
Another look at Twitter.
I mentioned in my twitter post that I'd get back to looking at twitter as it relates to information managers and librarians. Twitter is the tip of the spear with Web 2.0, and seeing how it can be used to make libraries and librarians better is a useful thing to concentrate on.
The mashable link in my first post has lots on twitter basics, including hashtags and retweets, as well as twitter customs like Follow Friday and tweetups. It also gives an intro into using twitter for customer service, which is a central use of Twitter in a library setting. There are useful points on being engaged, and authentic while using twitter in this way.
More extensive and specific information and advice can be found in Sarah Milstein's article at Info Today
She writes:
A second article exploring librarianship and twitter is Using Twitter in Libraries by Phil Bradley. He makes a great list of its uses:
He goes into each of these. Well worth a look!
Another good resource I've found is the page on Twitter on the Library Success wiki. While pretty sparse in its presentation, it features long lists of information on tools, twitter accounts of libraries, and librarians on twitter.
Lindy Brown maintains an even bigger list here on her blog. The whole blog is worth checking out. Her blog list on the right sidebar is a great selected set of top library blogs.
Put all that together and you have a starter-kit for twitter use in a library context. Hope it helps! Its certainly helped me.
The mashable link in my first post has lots on twitter basics, including hashtags and retweets, as well as twitter customs like Follow Friday and tweetups. It also gives an intro into using twitter for customer service, which is a central use of Twitter in a library setting. There are useful points on being engaged, and authentic while using twitter in this way.
More extensive and specific information and advice can be found in Sarah Milstein's article at Info Today
She writes:
For example, a library could share all kinds of news that patrons want. Short messages can tell people about events such as readings, lectures, and book sales; newly available resources; or changes in the building hours. One message a day or one a week could share a tip on finding or accessing information online or in the building. Twitter posts can link to interesting news stories about literacy or about libraries. When appropriate, the posts can link to a library’s own website and blog for more in-depth information.She continues by listing several good examples of twitter use by various libraries of different types (Public, research, special and so on.)
A second article exploring librarianship and twitter is Using Twitter in Libraries by Phil Bradley. He makes a great list of its uses:
- Social networking
- Information updating
- Trending information
- Searching for information
- Asking questions
- Self promotion.
- Identifying experts in an area.
- Keeping up to date with company developments.
He goes into each of these. Well worth a look!
Another good resource I've found is the page on Twitter on the Library Success wiki. While pretty sparse in its presentation, it features long lists of information on tools, twitter accounts of libraries, and librarians on twitter.
Lindy Brown maintains an even bigger list here on her blog. The whole blog is worth checking out. Her blog list on the right sidebar is a great selected set of top library blogs.
Put all that together and you have a starter-kit for twitter use in a library context. Hope it helps! Its certainly helped me.
Sunday, 14 April 2013
Working with mashups
So here I'm trying to start out with mashups, beginning with a simple google map.
Let's see how that looks.
View Point Lonsdale in a larger map
First had to get used to using the HTML button at the top First try ended up with an ugly wall of code and no map! The beach walk link is coming up nicely. You can click on it!
Question is, if I change the orginial map in google maps, does the embed update?
It does! I've added a placemark, and its coming up without changing the original link. Cool.
So, lets try this with OpenStreetMaps, and escape the evil empire of Google...
View Larger Map
Here's a map showing the Freycinet peninsula on the eastern Tasmanian coast. Beautiful place to visit. So that worked smoothly. Early pros of OpenStreetMaps: no need to sign up. Cons: harder to label and show routes. Though I'd guess that if I sign up, that'll be possible.
I'd like to put a Worldcat widget in here, as a final mashup, but that seems to require setting up as an OCLC affiliate with a lot of personal information required. Wonder if RMIT has an account I can use?
Addendum: Didn't want to do a full post for this, but we also worked on cloud computing this week. I've had an Evernote account for some time, though I haven't used it a lot, since I generally only use one computer. The group set up a Dropbox account, and we've had fun sharing images. Clearly a great collaboration tool! (Just remember to only share what should be shared!)
Let's see how that looks.
View Point Lonsdale in a larger map
First had to get used to using the HTML button at the top First try ended up with an ugly wall of code and no map! The beach walk link is coming up nicely. You can click on it!
Question is, if I change the orginial map in google maps, does the embed update?
It does! I've added a placemark, and its coming up without changing the original link. Cool.
So, lets try this with OpenStreetMaps, and escape the evil empire of Google...
View Larger Map
Here's a map showing the Freycinet peninsula on the eastern Tasmanian coast. Beautiful place to visit. So that worked smoothly. Early pros of OpenStreetMaps: no need to sign up. Cons: harder to label and show routes. Though I'd guess that if I sign up, that'll be possible.
I'd like to put a Worldcat widget in here, as a final mashup, but that seems to require setting up as an OCLC affiliate with a lot of personal information required. Wonder if RMIT has an account I can use?
Addendum: Didn't want to do a full post for this, but we also worked on cloud computing this week. I've had an Evernote account for some time, though I haven't used it a lot, since I generally only use one computer. The group set up a Dropbox account, and we've had fun sharing images. Clearly a great collaboration tool! (Just remember to only share what should be shared!)
Social bookmarking
As I've noted before, I've always used browsers with extensive sets of bookmarks, rather than RSS. So I haven't been a user of social bookmarking sites either. On the Create, Communicate, Collaborate site, there are listed three weaknesses of browser bookmarks.
1. Bookmarks reside on a single computer, which is inconvenient if you use more than one.
2. Bookmarks can get out of hand if you don't set up a good structure to organize them.
3. Bookmarks can't be easily transferred into papers for citation purposes.
Taking each in turn:
1. I only have one computer, my laptop, which I'm happy to take where I need it.
2. I have always structured my bookmarks, and can easily find the one I want.
3. I've never had to write a paper with a lot of internet citations.
So you can see why I'm not a master of Delicious.
BUT: I'm likely to have separate home, work and mobile computers in the future, and interact with people who use these bookmarking tools, so its worth checking them out.
As I worked through the list, I came across LibraryThing. This site I really like and have recommended to family as a great way of keeping track of what we read, what we've been recommended and what we'd like to check out. I had a great time setting up my account and chasing up the books I own and have read. Its fascinating to see what other's have read, although a little disheartening to see Harry Potter in the top 7 most-read slots. A great feature is links to other people who have similar tastes, where you can find works that you might have missed. Its a site I can easily see myself recommending to library users and book lovers. It's as user friendly as searching amazon, but without the constant pressure to buy. And even a place to find friends.
1. Bookmarks reside on a single computer, which is inconvenient if you use more than one.
2. Bookmarks can get out of hand if you don't set up a good structure to organize them.
3. Bookmarks can't be easily transferred into papers for citation purposes.
Taking each in turn:
1. I only have one computer, my laptop, which I'm happy to take where I need it.
2. I have always structured my bookmarks, and can easily find the one I want.
3. I've never had to write a paper with a lot of internet citations.
So you can see why I'm not a master of Delicious.
BUT: I'm likely to have separate home, work and mobile computers in the future, and interact with people who use these bookmarking tools, so its worth checking them out.
As I worked through the list, I came across LibraryThing. This site I really like and have recommended to family as a great way of keeping track of what we read, what we've been recommended and what we'd like to check out. I had a great time setting up my account and chasing up the books I own and have read. Its fascinating to see what other's have read, although a little disheartening to see Harry Potter in the top 7 most-read slots. A great feature is links to other people who have similar tastes, where you can find works that you might have missed. Its a site I can easily see myself recommending to library users and book lovers. It's as user friendly as searching amazon, but without the constant pressure to buy. And even a place to find friends.
Trying to keep up with ructions in RSS
So, in week 3 we looked at RSS. This was something I'm just beginning to learn about. (I've also played around with it in Information Provision.) Generally I've been a person that used bookmarks in my browser to organize the news sources I wanted to look at. Old school, I suppose, but it worked for me. More recently, I used twitter as a high speed news feed. Its great for breaking news events like earthquakes or revolutions. (I felt twitter came of age during the Green Revolution in Iran in 2009. Wikipedia even mentions the nickname "twitter revolution.") So RSS didn't become one of my tools. Still, its important to know how it works, so that if I'm running a regularly updating site, I can make it RSS accessible.
However, soon after we began working with RSS, Google announced it was closing down its Reader. Bernadette Welch, a great fan and user of google reader, sent out a link highlighting some alternatives. So I thought I'd take a look at them.
Looking through the Lifehacker article, it looks like NetVibes was worth a try as an alternative. But it looks like its a whole dashboard as well as a reader, which is more than I want. Newsblur looked cleaner and simpler, but is unavailable unless you pay $24 a year. TheOldReader is a third option. It looks really nice so I'm trying it. You start by logging in using a gmail or facebook account.
I've added a few news feeds and so far it looks good. I think I'd like to be able to customize how it appears a bit more, but overall, it does the job with a minimum of trouble. Whether RSS readers of any kind replace my current newsreading habits will have to be seen.
Late update: It looks like Newsblur let me start an account without paying. Weird.
However, soon after we began working with RSS, Google announced it was closing down its Reader. Bernadette Welch, a great fan and user of google reader, sent out a link highlighting some alternatives. So I thought I'd take a look at them.
Looking through the Lifehacker article, it looks like NetVibes was worth a try as an alternative. But it looks like its a whole dashboard as well as a reader, which is more than I want. Newsblur looked cleaner and simpler, but is unavailable unless you pay $24 a year. TheOldReader is a third option. It looks really nice so I'm trying it. You start by logging in using a gmail or facebook account.
I've added a few news feeds and so far it looks good. I think I'd like to be able to customize how it appears a bit more, but overall, it does the job with a minimum of trouble. Whether RSS readers of any kind replace my current newsreading habits will have to be seen.
Late update: It looks like Newsblur let me start an account without paying. Weird.
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